Form controls

Bootstrap’s form controls expand on our Rebooted form styles with classes. Use these classes to opt into their customized displays for a more consistent rendering across browsers and devices. The example form below demonstrates common HTML form elements that receive updated styles from Bootstrap with additional classes.

Remember, since Bootstrap utilizes the HTML5 doctype, all inputs must have a type attribute.

Email addressWe'll never share your email with anyone else.

Password

Example select

Example multiple select

Example textarea

File inputThis is some placeholder block-level help text for the above input. It's a bit lighter and easily wraps to a new line.

Radio buttons

Option one is this and that—be sure to include why it's great

Option two can be something else and selecting it will deselect option one

Option three is disabled

Check me out

<form><divclass="form-group"><labelfor="exampleInputEmail1">Email address</label><inputtype="email"class="form-control"id="exampleInputEmail1"aria-describedby="emailHelp"placeholder="Enter email"><smallid="emailHelp"class="form-text text-muted">We'll never share your email with anyone else.</small></div><divclass="form-group"><labelfor="exampleInputPassword1">Password</label><inputtype="password"class="form-control"id="exampleInputPassword1"placeholder="Password"></div><divclass="form-group"><labelfor="exampleSelect1">Example select</label><selectclass="form-control"id="exampleSelect1"><option>1</option><option>2</option><option>3</option><option>4</option><option>5</option></select></div><divclass="form-group"><labelfor="exampleSelect2">Example multiple select</label><selectmultipleclass="form-control"id="exampleSelect2"><option>1</option><option>2</option><option>3</option><option>4</option><option>5</option></select></div><divclass="form-group"><labelfor="exampleTextarea">Example textarea</label><textareaclass="form-control"id="exampleTextarea"rows="3"></textarea></div><divclass="form-group"><labelfor="exampleInputFile">File input</label><inputtype="file"class="form-control-file"id="exampleInputFile"aria-describedby="fileHelp"><smallid="fileHelp"class="form-text text-muted">This is some placeholder block-level help text for the above input. It's a bit lighter and easily wraps to a new line.</small></div><fieldsetclass="form-group"><legend>Radio buttons</legend><divclass="form-check"><labelclass="form-check-label"><inputtype="radio"class="form-check-input"name="optionsRadios"id="optionsRadios1"value="option1"checked>
Option one is this and that&mdash;be sure to include why it's great
</label></div><divclass="form-check"><labelclass="form-check-label"><inputtype="radio"class="form-check-input"name="optionsRadios"id="optionsRadios2"value="option2">
Option two can be something else and selecting it will deselect option one
</label></div><divclass="form-check disabled"><labelclass="form-check-label"><inputtype="radio"class="form-check-input"name="optionsRadios"id="optionsRadios3"value="option3"disabled>
Option three is disabled
</label></div></fieldset><divclass="form-check"><labelclass="form-check-label"><inputtype="checkbox"class="form-check-input">
Check me out
</label></div><buttontype="submit"class="btn btn-primary">Submit</button></form>

Below is a complete list of the specific form controls supported by Bootstrap and the classes that customize them. Additional documentation is available for each group.

Form layouts

Since Bootstrap applies display: block and width: 100% to almost all our form controls, forms will by default stack vertically. Additional classes can be used to vary this layout on a per-form basis.

Form groups

The .form-group class is the easiest way to add some structure to forms. Its only purpose is to provide margin-bottom around a label and control pairing. As a bonus, since it’s a class you can use it with <fieldset>s, <div>s, or nearly any other element.

Controls only appear inline in viewports that are at least 576px wide to account for narrow viewports on mobile devices.

You may need to manually address the width and alignment of individual form controls with spacing utilities (as shown below). Lastly, be sure to always include a <label> with each form control, even if you need to hide it from non-screenreader visitors with .sr-only.

Alternatives to hidden labels

Assistive technologies such as screen readers will have trouble with your forms if you don’t include a label for every input. For these inline forms, you can hide the labels using the .sr-only class. There are further alternative methods of providing a label for assistive technologies, such as the aria-label, aria-labelledby or title attribute. If none of these are present, assistive technologies may resort to using the placeholder attribute, if present, but note that use of placeholder as a replacement for other labelling methods is not advised.

Using the Grid

For more structured form layouts that are also responsive, you can utilize Bootstrap’s predefined grid classes or mixins to create horizontal forms. Add the .row class to form groups and use the .col-*-* classes to specify the width of your labels and controls.

Be sure to add .col-form-label to your <label>s as well so they’re vertically centered with their associated form controls. For <legend> elements, you can use .col-form-legend to make them appear similar to regular <label> elements.

Email

Password

Radios

Option one is this and that—be sure to include why it's great

Option two can be something else and selecting it will deselect option one

Option three is disabled

Checkbox

Check me out

<divclass="container"><form><divclass="form-group row"><labelfor="inputEmail3"class="col-sm-2 col-form-label">Email</label><divclass="col-sm-10"><inputtype="email"class="form-control"id="inputEmail3"placeholder="Email"></div></div><divclass="form-group row"><labelfor="inputPassword3"class="col-sm-2 col-form-label">Password</label><divclass="col-sm-10"><inputtype="password"class="form-control"id="inputPassword3"placeholder="Password"></div></div><fieldsetclass="form-group row"><legendclass="col-form-legend col-sm-2">Radios</legend><divclass="col-sm-10"><divclass="form-check"><labelclass="form-check-label"><inputclass="form-check-input"type="radio"name="gridRadios"id="gridRadios1"value="option1"checked>
Option one is this and that&mdash;be sure to include why it's great
</label></div><divclass="form-check"><labelclass="form-check-label"><inputclass="form-check-input"type="radio"name="gridRadios"id="gridRadios2"value="option2">
Option two can be something else and selecting it will deselect option one
</label></div><divclass="form-check disabled"><labelclass="form-check-label"><inputclass="form-check-input"type="radio"name="gridRadios"id="gridRadios3"value="option3"disabled>
Option three is disabled
</label></div></div></fieldset><divclass="form-group row"><labelclass="col-sm-2">Checkbox</label><divclass="col-sm-10"><divclass="form-check"><labelclass="form-check-label"><inputclass="form-check-input"type="checkbox"> Check me out
</label></div></div></div><divclass="form-group row"><divclass="offset-sm-2 col-sm-10"><buttontype="submit"class="btn btn-primary">Sign in</button></div></div></form></div>

Checkboxes and radios

Default checkboxes and radios are improved upon with the help of .form-check, a single class for both input types that improves the layout and behavior of their HTML elements. Checkboxes are for selecting one or several options in a list, while radios are for selecting one option from many.

Disabled checkboxes and radios are supported, but to provide a not-allowed cursor on hover of the parent <label>, you’ll need to add the .disabled class to the parent .form-check. The disabled class will also lighten the text color to help indicate the input’s state.

Default (stacked)

By default, any number of checkboxes and radios that are immediate sibling will be vertically stacked and appropriately spaced with .form-check.

Option one is this and that—be sure to include why it's great

Option two is disabled

<divclass="form-check"><labelclass="form-check-label"><inputclass="form-check-input"type="checkbox"value="">
Option one is this and that&mdash;be sure to include why it's great
</label></div><divclass="form-check disabled"><labelclass="form-check-label"><inputclass="form-check-input"type="checkbox"value=""disabled>
Option two is disabled
</label></div>

Option one is this and that—be sure to include why it's great

Option two can be something else and selecting it will deselect option one

Option three is disabled

<divclass="form-check"><labelclass="form-check-label"><inputclass="form-check-input"type="radio"name="exampleRadios"id="exampleRadios1"value="option1"checked>
Option one is this and that&mdash;be sure to include why it's great
</label></div><divclass="form-check"><labelclass="form-check-label"><inputclass="form-check-input"type="radio"name="exampleRadios"id="exampleRadios2"value="option2">
Option two can be something else and selecting it will deselect option one
</label></div><divclass="form-check disabled"><labelclass="form-check-label"><inputclass="form-check-input"type="radio"name="exampleRadios"id="exampleRadios3"value="option3"disabled>
Option three is disabled
</label></div>

Inline

Group checkboxes or radios on the same horizontal row by adding .form-check-inline to any .form-check.

Without labels

Should you have no text within the <label>, the input is positioned as you’d expect. Currently only works on non-inline checkboxes and radios. Remember to still provide some form of label for assistive technologies (for instance, using aria-label).

Caveat about link functionality of <a>

By default, browsers will treat all native form controls (<input>, <select> and <button> elements) inside a <fieldset disabled> as disabled, preventing both keyboard and mouse interactions on them. However, if your form also includes <a ... class="btn btn-*"> elements, these will only be given a style of pointer-events: none. As noted in the section about disabled state for buttons (and specifically in the sub-section for anchor elements), this CSS property is not yet standardized and isn’t fully supported in Opera 18 and below, or in Internet Explorer 11, and won’t prevent keyboard users from being able to focus or activate these links. So to be safe, use custom JavaScript to disable such links.

Cross-browser compatibility

While Bootstrap will apply these styles in all browsers, Internet Explorer 11 and below don’t fully support the disabled attribute on a <fieldset>. Use custom JavaScript to disable the fieldset in these browsers.

Readonly inputs

Add the readonly boolean attribute on an input to prevent modification of the input’s value. Read-only inputs appear lighter (just like disabled inputs), but retain the standard cursor.

Help text

Block-level help text in forms can be created using .form-text (previously known as .help-block in v3). Inline help text can be flexibly implemented using any inline HTML element and utility classes like .text-muted.

Associating help text with form controls

Help text should be explicitly associated with the form control it relates to using the aria-describedby attribute. This will ensure that assistive technologies – such as screen readers – will announce this help text when the user focuses or enters the control.

Block level

Block help text—for below inputs or for longer lines of help text—can be easily achieved with .form-text. This class includes display: block and adds some top margin for easy spacing from the inputs above.

Password

Your password must be 8-20 characters long, contain letters and numbers, and must not contain spaces, special characters, or emoji.

<labelfor="inputPassword5">Password</label><inputtype="password"id="inputPassword5"class="form-control"aria-describedby="passwordHelpBlock"><pid="passwordHelpBlock"class="form-text text-muted">
Your password must be 8-20 characters long, contain letters and numbers, and must not contain spaces, special characters, or emoji.
</p>

Inline

Inline text can use any typical inline HTML element (be it a <small>, <span>, or something else).

Validation

Bootstrap includes validation styles for danger, warning, and success states on most form controls.

How it works

Here’s a rundown of how they work:

To use, add .has-warning, .has-danger, or .has-success to the parent element. Any .col-form-label, .form-control, or custom form element will receive the validation styles.

Contextual validation text, in addition to your usual form field help text, can be added with the use of .form-control-feedback. This text will adapt to the parent .has-* class. By default it only includes a bit of margin for spacing and a modified color for each state.

Validation icons are url()s configured via Sass variables that are applied to background-image declarations for each state.

You may use your own base64 PNGs or SVGs by updating the Sass variables and recompiling.

Icons can also be disabled entirely by setting the variables to none or commenting out the source Sass.

Defining states

Generally speaking, you’ll want to use a particular state for specific types of feedback:

Danger is great for when there’s a blocking or required field. A user must fill in this field properly to submit the form.

Warning works well for input values that are in progress, like password strength, or soft validation before a user attempts to submit a form.

And lastly, success is ideal for situations when you have per-field validation throughout a form and want to encourage a user through the rest of the fields.

Examples

Here are some examples of the aforementioned classes in action. First up is your standard left-aligned fields with labels, help text, and validation messaging.

Custom forms

For even more customization and cross browser consistency, use our completely custom form elements to replace the browser defaults. They’re built on top of semantic and accessible markup, so they’re solid replacements for any default form control.

Checkboxes and radios

Each checkbox and radio is wrapped in a <label> for three reasons:

It provides a larger hit areas for checking the control.

It provides a helpful and semantic wrapper to help us replace the default <input>s.

It triggers the state of the <input> automatically, meaning no JavaScript is required.

We hide the default <input> with opacity and use the .custom-control-indicator to build a new custom form indicator in its place. Unfortunately we can’t build a custom one from just the <input> because CSS’s content doesn’t work on that element.

We use the sibling selector (~) for all our <input> states—like :checked—to properly style our custom form indicator. When combined with the .custom-control-description class, we can also style the text for each item based on the <input>’s state.

In the checked states, we use base64 embedded SVG icons from Open Iconic. This provides us the best control for styling and positioning across browsers and devices.

We wrap the <input> in a <label> so the custom control properly triggers the file browser.

We hide the default file <input> via opacity.

We use :after to generate a custom background and directive (Choose file…).

We use :before to generate and position the Browse button.

We declare a height on the <input> for proper spacing for surrounding content.

In other words, it’s an entirely custom element, all generated via CSS.

Translating or customizing the strings

The :lang() pseudo-class is used to allow for easy translation of the “Browse” and “Choose file…” text into other languages. Simply override or add entries to the $custom-file-text SCSS variable with the relevant language tag and localized strings. The English strings can be customized the same way. For example, here’s how one might add a Spanish translation (Spanish’s language code is es):